Meet the Leeds United fans who named their child after Marcelo Bielsa

Steve and Emma Bruce feared that if Bielsa had failed to secure promotion and left the club, little Chloe's middle name Marcela - the female version of the Spanish name - would be a strange story to tell by the time she reached adulthood.

But after the Whites were named Championship winners over the weekend, the family - who live just metres from the club's training ground in Thorp Arch - have been 'telling everyone' about their choice of name.

Chloe Marcela Bruce was born in April 2019, during Leeds' ill-fated play-off run-in when they lost to Derby County and were denied promotion.

The toddler - now 15 months old - is the couple's third child and is part of an extended family who are passionate about the Whites.

Mum Emma has been a season ticket holder at Elland Road since the age of four, when she would go to matches with her late father Chris Furniss, a former district judge in Leeds, and her siblings. When she first began dating timber merchant Steve, they would bond over their shared love of the club.

Since starting their own family, they have shared their two season tickets with older children Elodie, eight, and Bobby, six, and have already renewed them for 2020/21.

"When she was born, it was just before the play-offs and it was a tense, stressful time. In the lead-up, my husband asked if we could name her after Bielsa, and I agreed! Of course, we didn't know if we'd be promoted or if he'd stay.

"When we registered her birth, the registrar picked up on it and asked us about it, saying it was unusual, but we didn't tell that many people after the play-offs. Since promotion, we've been telling everyone!

"Bielsa is already a club legend and I would love him to stay and manage them in the Premier League. He is a lovely, kind man."

Emma is used to spotting her hero walking around Thorp Arch and Wetherby, and Steve has managed to have a photo taken with him before.

The Bruce and Furniss families are still reeling from the excitement of being promoted and then confirmed as title winners in the space of just a few days.

"It's been going on for days and days now - it feels crazy. On the night they were promoted we were at some friends', and that turned into a bit of a party. Then when they became champions we had a gathering in the garden at my brother's - we're a big family and we're all fans.

"We also went up to my father's memorial bench at West Park Fields and laid some scarves, so he could share the moment with us.

"Nobody can quite believe it. We're really excited about next season and I just hope crowds are allowed back soon. For children as young as my son, they've been robbed of the chance to watch them. We'd better be allowed back for the Manchester United game!

"Chloe is a bit young to go to Elland Road now - she'll probably start going when she's four or five, like her brother did."

Emma's sister Bronwen Furniss admits she thought the couple were 'mad' to name Chloe after a manager who had not yet achieved promotion - but now accepts their faith has been rewarded.

"At the time we all thought they were mad, giving their daughter a crazy name after a football manager who could well be a flash in the pan for Leeds!

"We could imagine them saying to her on her 18th birthday...'sorry about the name Chloe, he was a random football manager from the 2019/20s who nearly got Leeds promoted'.

"However, Emma and Steve being lifelong fans, they believed."

Promotion is also a bittersweet moment for the Furniss family, as Emma and Bronwen's father Chris, a lawyer, passed away in February 2018.

"Chloe's grandad was born and raised in Leeds, a lifelong fan. A family man who only ever cried over Leeds United! We have a plaque right under the Billy Bremner statue in his memory.

"He would be so proud of his grandchild now."